What could the Connecticut Huskies possibly have left in the tank after playing four overtimes against Cincinnati on Friday? We're all going to find out on Saturday when they take on the Temple Owls at the Amway Center in Orlando.
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HOW THE CONNECTICUT HUSKIES CAN COVER THE SPREAD
The Huskies have to be careful here. They played their de facto Super Bowl against Cincinnati in a bubble battle that very well could have eliminated them from the NCAA Tournament, and they needed four overtimes to win that game. That's not to say they're safely in the tourney yet. A win in this game will probably remove all doubt, but a loss, and it'll still be a long and tough wait to see if they can dance next week or not.
Daniel Hamilton, Sterling Gibbs, Rodney Purvis, Amida Brimah and Jalen Adams all played more than 40 minutes, while Hamilton and Gibbs played 55 and 54 minutes respectively.
It was ultimately the defense that bailed UConn out against the Bearcats in that fourth overtime period, and that's what it's going to take in this game to survive as well. The Huskies absolutely cannot let Temple shoot 45 or 50 percent from the field.
Offensively, it's all about digging deep. Can Hamilton really go another 40 minutes and score 20+ points? Can Sterling Gibbs and Rodney Purvis knock down some big threes after playing almost a game and a half yesterday? If so, the Huskies might be able to cover the spread and pull out another big victory. If they can't though, this game could get ugly.
HOW THE TEMPLE OWLS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
Let's not forget that the Owls are firmly on the bubble as well. They're probably on the right side of the cut line right now, but a loss in this game would make it a sweat, too.
Temple has to be relentless, particularly in the second half of this game. Jaylen Bond has been really aggressive here at the end of the season, averaging 14.0 points and 11.3 boards per game in his last three, and he's going to be crucial in this one. Bond has a tough draw here in Brimah, knowing that he's giving up some size, but his physicality could make a big difference.
In Friday's win over South Florida, Mark Williams and Devin Coleman came off the bench to score a combined 21 points. Neither one of these teams has all that much depth, but if Temple can get some extra contributions to take some pressure off of Quenton DeCosey and Bond as the main scorers, it should have enough to cover this game.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Connecticut is going to be super-duper sharp on Saturday. Good teams this time of year tend to find one more gear to get through one more game. It's the game after the marathon game where teams tend to fall apart.
We're not saying that this UConn team is the same one which came out of nowhere to win the National Championship a couple years back, but we're not betting against Kevin Ollie. You've got to have a ton of heart to win a four-overtime game this time of year, and the Huskies will have just enough to get through this bubble battle in another really close call.
Connecticut 66, Temple 64
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